Reports: Christie knew of plan

Mar. 4, 2014

Written by

Bob Jordan

@Bob JordanAPP

TRENTON — The same crew of Chris Christie political associates involved in the George Washington Bridge lane closures was involved in a scheme to trick the public about Port Authority of New York and New Jersey toll increases, two newspapers reported Sunday.

The Port Authority in 2011 proposed a massive toll hike so that Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could later scale it back and gain support for a softened increase, allowing the two governors to claim false credit as fiscal hawks, said separate stories in The Record and Star-Ledger.

The approved plan is increasing Hudson River tolls in stages to $12.50 for E-ZPass subscribers and $15 for cash customers by December 2015. The maximum initially proposed tolls were $14 and $17.

The extra revenue in part will fund a $942 million “regional bank” that the governors can use for pet projects not directly related to the Port Authority, The Record said.

The scheme was led by Christie’s top Port Authority executive appointee, Bill Baroni, and his right-hand man, David Wildstein. Both quit their jobs after state lawmakers began looking into last September’s bridge lane closures.

The Star-Ledger said a week before the initial higher toll hike proposal was announced, Christie and Cuomo had dinner at the Beacon restaurant in Manhattan. Word of the dinner fueled suspicion that the governors had agreed to an elaborately fictionalized toll hike scheme but Christie refused to say what he and Cuomo discussed when they met.

“I was informed of the toll increase, of the magnitude of the toll increase after that dinner,” Christie said then.

But the Star-Ledger, which based its story on six unnamed sources, and The Record, which cited eight unnamed sources, said Christie was plugged into the process well before that point.

The Record said Christie on Aug. 3, 2011, held a meeting in his office with a group of advisers including Baroni, Wildstein and Port Authority Chairman David Samson and instructed officials to float an immediate $4 hike, and that he and Cuomo would reduce it to $2. Baroni, Wildstein and Samson declined to provide comment to the newspaper.

Christie’s office did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

AAA New York is suing the Port Authority to try to overturn the toll hikes.